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Changing the World…One Word at a Time

Creative writing is an activity that even children can enjoy. It is an art that allows them to write freely and creatively to express their thoughts, emotions and feelings. This kind of writing offers numerous benefits:

1. Promotes creativity and imagination

Children are naturally imaginative, and one way to express this natural ability is through creative writing. Creative writing encourages them to think outside the box and broaden their imagination. In the process, children will also be able to enhance their though processes which can help them become successful in many areas such as in analytical and problem solving.

2. Develops language skills

Creative writing is a great way for children to practice the language skills they learn in school. It allows them to practice on proper punctuation, grammar, spelling, word usage and choice of words. At the same time, they will be able to learn from their mistakes in a fun way.

3. Develops self-confidence

Children feel better when they are able to write their thoughts and get appreciation from others especially their parents. It gives them more self-confidence in asserting themselves and expressing their thoughts. Children with strong self-confidence often become good leaders in the future.

4. Allows self-expression

Some children who have difficulty in expressing themselves find creative writing as a good outlet of their thoughts and emotions. Many parents are able to grasp and understand more about the inner thoughts of their children by their writings. Additionally, creative writing is also a good therapy for children who have challenges in socializing with others.

5. Improves their skills in other areas

Creative writing helps children become better in other subjects. There are studies that show that children who are involved in creative writing generally perform better in other subjects such as mathematics and science. Creative writing challenges their mind to think beyond what is obvious, and this attitude is something that is also applicable in the other subjects.

6. Develops reading skills

The skill in reading comes out naturally as your child learns to write. Children who are engaged in creative writing are able to exercise their reading skills every time they write, allowing them to read faster and be able to comprehend what they are reading.

7. Develops self-identity

Children will also be able to develop self-identity by writing creatively. That identity can become the trademark of the child’s writings as he or she grows old and continually writes.

8. Allows children to be more mindful of the things around them

With creative writing, children will be able to see the world around in a different way as they become more mindful even of the small and simple things. For instance, many people may not be able to appreciate the flowers in the pathway or the stars in the night sky. But children who are into creative writing generally notice and appreciate them, as is expressed in their writings.

9. Teaches empathy.

Creative writing also teaches children especially the older ones to be more empathetic. As they write about a particular character, they are able to internalize the character of that person, like how they behave or how they feel. Once they see that character in other people, they would be able to understand them more.

10. Teaches your child to become a better person

Creative writing is a good form of hobby for children to develop. It keeps them occupied on profitable things rather than waste their time in watching television or playing computer games. It also keeps them away from the negative influences of modern technologies. Overall, it helps them to become a better person as they see the world in another perspective. A creative mind is a working mind. So you could expect children who are into creative writing to be always thinking and using their brains.

There are numerous benefits of creative writing in children. If your child enjoys doing it, nurture it and it will help your child a long way.

Do you know that if you can read to your child for at least 20 minutes a day, you are also introducing him or her to at least 130 new words per minute? And that is adding many words to your child’s vocabulary even before he or she starts going to school. If your child asks you to read bedtime stories just like what many children enjoy, don’t miss that chance to read to your child. It will be more than just a bonding experience for both of you since reading to children offers a number of benefits as well:

1. Helps build a stronger parent-child relationship

Reading can bring children and parents closer together. It can be a nurturing and learning experience for both the parent and the child. As children grow, they will find other activities to do such a playing with friend and watching television among others. But the memories you build by reading stories while the child is still young will remain in them and they will continue to cherish that.

2. Boosts academic excellence

Reading to children is one way you could teach your child to enjoy books and to read in general. It could also help them increase their vocabulary and enhance their literacy and language skills. Various studies show that children who are exposed to reading at an early age do well in school. After all, most of the learning materials in school are in books.

3. Teaches a child that reading is fun

Some children perform poorly in school because of their lack of interest in reading. But if you read to your child and make fun memories of reading together, it teaches the child that reading is fun. When your child goes to school, he will more likely view reading as something fun more than a task.

4. Promotes reading skills

Children can easily learn essential pre-reading skills such as to read texts from left to right as soon as their parents read to them. As they grow older, they will be able to enhance their reading skills in that they will learn to read faster than average children and still understand what they are reading.

5. Enhances mastery of the language

Early reading also helps children have a better grasp of the language. This is especially true because reading adds new words to their vocabulary and it helps them learn how to read difficult words or understand the meaning of certain common phrases.

6. Enhances their logical thinking skill

When parents read to their children, the children will be exposed to different situations, be introduced to the cause and effect of certain actions, and be taught to exercise good judgments. As your child matures, he or she will be able to apply this learning in actual life situations where logical thinking skill is needed.

7. Introduces your child to our wonderful world

Through reading, you can bring your child to new places, introduce him to new people, and teach him about different animals or things that you can only read in books. At a very young age, you are already teaching your child to be an explorer.

8. Encourages creative thinking

Reading will feed your child’s imagination more than what is shown in drawings or illustrations. And by that, it helps your child develop a creative mine.

9. Helps enhance concentration

Children can be easily distracted. Although they will initially squirm when you read them stories, when that becomes a habit, it will help your child develop self-discipline to be more attentive while you are reading. That same attitude can help your child in school.

10. Helps children desire knowledge

Reading will fuel your child’s interest in many things. It will keep them interested in learning new things and in gaining understanding of the many things around them.

Books are very powerful teaching materials for children. As parents, you could take advantage of books to teach your young child about many things before he or she even goes to school.

Apart from a child’s development of their reading and writing skills, other areas of concern are also needed to be addressed at the same time, if their total progress is to be taken into consideration. We are talking about the child’s development in the areas of physical well- being, social development, learning ability, thinking ability, and also their communication skills.

Every one of these areas must be tackled and touched upon frequently if we are to aim for total child development. Countless amounts of literature have been produced that weighs in on these subjects and there are numerous guides on how to go about teaching them.

A classic example of a well-rounded teaching technique is the show and tell. It is an activity that brings to the forefront several needed areas of child development and it also shows us insights of where the child is currently on, with regards to their total development. It can also be a tool that we can use to see where the child is lacking, so that we educators can find ways of remedying it. So what areas of child development does the show and tell tackle?

It touches up on a Child’s Self-Esteem and Thinking Ability

Children can bring anything to show and tell and everything is accepted. It may be their best pack n play that they love to use, their dad’s best travel tripod, or it may even be just a simple rock, stranger things have happened believe me.

It helps show the children’s ability to think of a thing and associate it to themselves in any way possible. It can be an attachment to it, curiosity of it, or even pride about that something that they own or have possession of. It also builds up their self-confidence when they see others are amazed by what they have done. Makes them think that they too have the ability to be “cool”.

It Hones their Social Skills

Speaking in front of many people brings about a certain confidence in a child that they think that it is always a good thing to have a chance at interacting with people. They become aware that they are part of something and that they can have a say about anything. It also teaches them the proper way of interacting with different kinds of people at different times and also at different kinds of circumstances.

It Develops Oral Skills and General Well Being

The children become aware of the power of voice and their innate ability to wield it. It doesn’t come natural to anybody to learn how to express themselves orally, but once they try it out, especially in front of many people, then it becomes inherent. They also soon know that they can in fact do something worthwhile and knowing that makes them feel good about themselves.

Doing show and tell countless of times on the course of our teaching careers certainly showed us its ability towards the growth and development of a child. You can clearly see marked improvement in a child right after they have performed it and it is a big help to teaching them.

In line with the World Breastfeeding Week 2014, we here at textyladies.com would like to share our part in keeping this healthy tradition alive by offering several great tips and pointers to help those great breastfeeding moms out there. Be sure to read everything as we aim to delve deeply into this topic to at least give you enough information to the questions you might have with regards it. So read on and have a meaningful breastfeeding celebration.

Foods to Avoid While Breastfeeding

Although it is highly recommended that you eat well when you are breastfeeding, there are some foods that can bring discomfort to both you and your baby. These foods are pretty simple enough at other times but when you are breastfeeding, they become something else entirely. Read about examples of such foods and be guided accordingly.

Coffee, Tea, and other drinks containing Caffeine

Can’t stop the habit of drinking coffee? Well you better as the caffeine that is contained on similar beverages finds its way to your milk, which in turn is passed to your baby during breastfeeding. Caffeine makes your baby cranky, irritable and has a hard time getting sleep. Now you don’t really want those things to happen right? One possible solution to still enjoy your cup is to postpone it after you have finished all the nursing sessions of the day.

Broccoli and Beans

You guessed it right. These foods do make your baby play the booty trumpet often. Gassy vegetables such as broccolis and beans tend to develop flatulence in the baby. Not only that, they also make irritable and fussy babies that won’t let you sleep. Colic is a bonus in some cases, so better lay off on your broccolis for the time being.

Alcohol

Now this is self-explanatory, but the science behind this is that what you consume really is being passed to your baby during breastfeeding, and alcohol is no exception. Alcohol makes the baby always drowsy, sleep deeper, and also contributes to the baby’s weakness and improper weight gain, or loss for that matter. It may also develop the cessation of milk production in the mother, so better limit or better yet totally eliminate alcohol consumption when you are breastfeeding.

Peppermint

If you want to know of ways on how to stop breastfeeding, eating peppermint might help you with your problem. Peppermint and other menthol foods have strong anti-lactogogues that helps stop milk production in mothers. One fourth teaspoon of peppermint added to tea or water every day slowly decrease the amount of milk a mother produces, up until it eventually dries up. So if you want to continue with breastfeeding as you know it, do not eat peppermint and other menthol foods.

Spicy Foods

Red pepper, bell pepper, jalapenos, habanero chili pepper, etc. and other kinds of spicy things out there, are foods that you should distance yourself from eating. They make babies irritated and fussy for hours at a time. What’s more, capsaicin, the active ingredient in peppers that finds its way into the mother’s milk, makes the baby not want to suck at the nipple anymore because of the hot peppery taste present there. A baby not wanting to suck anymore equals the eventual stopping of breastfeeding, a thing we don’t really want to happen. So if you can’t lay off foods that has some zing in them, try replacing the peppers with other zesty things such as lime juice or ginger for much better breastfeeding results.

Attending various seminars and conference with regards to the continuing education and further enhancement of the literacy curriculum is a need most of us educators have in our chosen field. There we could gather more insights and techniques that we can utilize in the performance of our duties of educating our students. It is also a way to keep abreast of current developments in our field and also a time to compare notes with our peers from all walks of life.

But it is not all work that we do in these conferences, as we are also provided ample time for ourselves, time to get to see new sights and enjoy the local accommodations of wherever we are at. It really makes going to conferences like these truly worth our time.

Being educators, we always have these events to look forward to during the school year that we have already developed a system to go to when such an event is imminent. It tackles everything there is to do in the preparation of it, from needed items for packing, accommodations, money to bring, itineraries, contacts, and stuff. You might very well say that we have everything covered. Let us share some of our tips when traveling.

Always check the condition of the water supply in any area you will be going to. Not every place has a very good system and you will get sick with unclean water every time. If where you’re staying at has the best reverse osmosis system under their taps then very good, if not, make sure you have a steady supply of bottled water readily available at any time.

If possible, bring less cash with you and instead rely on prepaid cards or travelers checks. You get to limit your spending while also ensuring you always have enough on hand.

Never bring expensive jewelry and just settle for the inexpensive fancy jewelry ones instead. If it gets lost then you are none the worse for it.

Never wander alone in a foreign place. It’s much enjoyable if you have company while going around, definitely much safer too.

Make sure you always have contact with your group and make sure someone always know what you are doing and where you are at.

Make sure you understand the culture of any foreign land you are going to, you never know if you are already offending them with your words or you gestures.

Beware of unscrupulous persons. When you are in doubt about anything, it’s best if you get away from it.

But besides everything on this list, never ever forget to have fun. Yes there can be perils everywhere, but you must always manage to have the time of your life when traveling. Make the most of everything you do as you may never pass that way again.

It is very likely that most of us have experiences with toothaches at one point or another as they are pretty much a rite of passage with us humans. You will remember how particularly hard it was suffering through it, that you might promise yourself to take better care of your teeth from that time onwards, and did eventually, as you do not really want to experience such pain ever again. Turns out toothaches are very good teachers as you really learn your lessons well about oral care.

But to be really knowledgeable about it, we must go in depth with the going’s-on inside the mouth and what it may mean for most of us. It is also with the awareness of that knowledge which makes us better at taking care of our teeth, as no one in his right mind really would dare experience the infamy of toothaches. And as we always say, read about it to enable you to do something about it.

How Do Toothaches Come About?

Well toothaches really come from the bacteria that are eating away inside your tooth. It has come so deep inside of the tooth that it is already in contact with the nerve endings found there, and that is what causes the hurting primarily. It begins when you do not take good care of your teeth, seldom brushing and never flossing, which allows bacteria to accumulate in the little spaces in between your teeth and also on it.

Eating food entails the constant production of plaque, a thin coating of food residue that also contains bacteria, on the teeth and gums. These bacteria feed on the sugars contained in the food we eat and secrete acid on the enamel of the teeth. When the accumulation becomes significant, which also means the bacteria are already entrenched on the teeth, tiny holes, or cavities, are then formed.

From these small holes come bigger and deeper ones as bacteria already have access to the deeper layers of the tooth. They continue to dig deeper down into the roots of the tooth and even to the gums, which also is the cause of gum pain in most cases. When this process of tooth decay is not stopped, it will eventually lead to the destruction of the tooth.

How is Tooth Decay Treated?

The first line of defense against tooth decay is, yes, plain old brushing and flossing your teeth. But if you are past the point of no return with regards to basic oral care, there are still several things that can be done to remedy the situation. A tooth hurting with cavity can be thoroughly cleaned and a filling placed on the hole for tooth pain relief, a cap or crown can be placed on missing tooth structure to halt further destruction, a root canal can be performed if the decay has totally destroyed the root pulp, and if all else fails, tooth extraction will be the last procedure to be performed on no longer salvageable teeth.

But you wouldn’t really want to experience those procedures if you had to right? So take good care of your teeth while you still have them. Your smile wouldn’t be as beautiful if you don’t.

Unexplained bruising, hematoma in medical parlance, sometimes do happen in the strangest places and also when you least expect it. They come like the thief in the night and leave you with many questions and worries the time you eventually wake up in the morning. Where did you get it, how did it manage to get there, are you down with something you don’t know, or is it serious or something? Questions you might immediately want answers for as people typically are always afraid of the unknown.

We here at TextyLadies.com will try our very best to keep you informed on matters that are very important to you. Today we tackle unexplained bruising and what it really does to you. Make sure to read all about it and as we always say, knowledge of something enables you to do something about it. So read on never be afraid anymore.

Bruising

Bruises, also called contusions, are actually the blood from damaged capillaries under the skin. The capillaries, damaged in some way either by direct trauma or any other underlying causes, then leaks blood into the surrounding interstitial tissues, but not really outside the skin, thereby causing the familiar black and blue that you see on your skin.

The force needed to create bruises vary with the age of the person involved, usually the more aged the person is, the more prone he is to bruises. Bruises may also be caused by other things not totally physical in nature such as with medications that hinders the blood from clotting like anti-inflammatories and cortisone drugs.

Unexplained Bruising

Unexplained bruising does happen sometimes and their cause varies from the almost trivial to the life threatening. Causes of unexplained bruising includes, but is not limited to, aging, vitamin deficiency, excessive consumption of medicine, diabetes, Grave’s disease, cirrhosis, and leukemia to name a few. Certainly one must immediately consult with a doctor if they experience unexplained bruising, especially when there is relevant family history of any of the above diseases.

How to Treat Bruises

Application of Cold Compress

Putting ice on the bruise closes leaking capillaries. Just make sure not to put ice directly to the skin as that might cause cold burns, use and ice bag or a towel and put the ice there before placing on the skin.

Taking Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Certain medicines do well to stop the swelling and bleeding on a bruise. Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen are the go to drugs when talking about bruises as they are much better than Aspirin which can hinder blood clotting.

Applying Warm Compress

If after a couple of days the bruise has not yet dissipated, a warm compress usually is used to promote blood flow in the area. Placing a warm cloth or bottle helps clear the color on a bruised skin.

If all of these methods fail, it is highly recommended to consult a physician as there might be underlying causes involved in the bruise. It is much better to be proven wrong instead of suffering from a disease without knowing about it.

Literacy is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the ability to read and write. It also is defined as having the proficiency or knowledge in any given area, expertise for short. So literacy, apart from its accepted connotation of being able to both read and write, can also be perceived as one’s particular comprehension to whatever subject is at hand. You being cognizant and knowledgeable about a thing, means your literacy towards it is topnotch. Literacy therefore, can be construed as applicable to all the things which a particular person may know and is generally good at.

With that in mind, it is our aim to develop literacy to as many people, on as much of the things that may prove to be of consequence to most. One such area we decided upon to do first is human anatomy. We are of the belief that it is good for one to be literate of the different processes going on inside his body, in order to be versant on other things which can emanate from it. Like we said earlier, literacy certainly can be applied to all. In line with that, we present to you The Hip.

The Hips are kind of a ball and socket joint wherein the pelvis bone (socket) meets the thigh bone or femur (ball). It is referred to as ball and socket because the femur ending forms into a ball like structure which then is contained in an enclosed cup like space called the hip socket. The hip socket is a stable enclosure made strong by various connective tissues such as muscles and tendons. Friction in the area is commonly eliminated by way of the synovial fluid present in the enclosure as well as pad like structures called the bursa and the ace tabular retaining wall.

The hip joint enables full range of motion of the legs which also adds to the problems the area might encounter as it is sort of a junction to various bodily structures that go through the area such as arteries, veins, muscles, tendons, and also nerves. This arrangement makes the hip socket prone to several conditions which are native to it.

Common hip conditions includes rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, soft tissue tears, hip flexor pain, Perthe’s Disease, bursitis, as well as dislocations and fractures. Injuries to the area usually require the commencement of anterior hip precautions as well as immobilization due to the areas sensitive duties of load bearing and balance maintenance amongst other things.

The hips once they get injured really takes time to heal as the balance in the area do get jumbled up sometimes, so much so that anterior hip precautions often is required. Anterior hip precautions includes: not stepping backwards, not rotating the leg externally, not crossing of legs, and not sleeping on the object side amongst other things. The hips, you can’t live with them, you really can’t live without them. Better treat your hips right if you want to live a long, fruitful and mobile life.

This being summertime and all, we decided to tackle a topic which most of us are kind of familiar to. We’re talking about allergies and their ilk, the bane of typically sensitive people all around the world. What are the common ones that are most prevalent in our country, their typical mode of delivery and of how do we fare against them.

It is our aim to bring you relevant content which may prove to be useful in your daily lives. And as we always say, reading gives us valuable knowledge about different things, which then also empowers us to do something about them. So read on and be informed, who knows you might get something valuable out of it.

Common Allergies Found in the U.S.A.

Pollen Allergy

Pollen is the most prevalent allergen that causes allergic reactions to people here in America. In fact the majority of cases of allergies admitted in hospitals across the country have it for its cause. Pollens are microscopic particles used by plants to reproduce. It is released to the air by plants during all times of the year, but is most prevalent during the spring and summer as these are the times when plants grow and flowers bloom. Pollen is then inhaled unaware by people through normal breathing and complications arise when the person is allergic to them.

Typical symptoms of pollen allergies consists of frequent bouts of sneezing, red and watery eyes, clogged up nose, itchy throat, cough, and headaches. For more severe cases, such as when hay fever is apparent, the symptoms degenerate into facial pain, feeling of fluid in lungs, tightness of chest, shortness of breath, and overall tiredness and fatigue.

Dust Mites Allergy

These creatures you don’t really see but they cause quite a lot of problems to your health. Dust mites are microscopic organisms that live in the dust in and around the house. They eat dead skin cells which constantly drop off from our body and if you have that nasty cold that seems never to end, dust mites might be the cause of that.

Dust mites like warm temperatures for reproduction and is very rampant between the times of July and August because of the heat in the environment. They are most commonly found in carpeting, sofas, bed, pillows, and other items around the house which dust accumulates on.

Dust mite allergy symptoms mimic that of pollen allergies, though in a lesser degree, and can be somewhat alleviated by the use of natural antihistamine found around the house such as Vitamin C and the Omega3 fatty acids found in some fishes.

Allergy to Molds

Molds are those somewhat creepy things that grow in damp and dark places. Mold also occurs on food left over for a long duration of time and is seen as sometimes greenish looking furry growth, sometimes black or white in color. They are also living things that reproduce by spraying microscopic spores to the air, and it is those things that cause allergic reactions in human if they unwittingly inhaled some. Mold allergies are closely related to asthma that an exposure to them generates similar reactions from the body such as when you have asthma. Symptoms like shortness of breath, wheezing, runny nose, and other symptoms that makes you feeling miserable.

We are happy to present you another great read that hopefully will interest and inspire you at the same time. Bear with us a little as we present you little known facts about dieting and how it affects the functioning of the body as we know it. Who knows, you might get some much needed information that helps take you over the proverbial hump that is your dream of easy weight loss.

3 Important Things to get your Diet off the Ground

Understand how you will lose weight

No matter what the reason is behind it, what is important is your goal is of losing weight. So how can one lose weight really? Well it’s a rather simple thing if you think about it. You lose weight when you burn more calories than you put in. You might be tempted to think it’s better to eat no calories at all to hasten the weight loss, but you are dead wrong in that assumption as the body needs calories to function properly, or else you are just going to die, and we wouldn’t want that to happen do we. Do not jump immediately into another diet fad that has just come out because it will eventually fade away like other diet programs before it. 1000 calorie diet, low carb vegetables only diet, Atkins, South Beach, and a myriad other diet programs that has come and gone.

The real trick is to find the right balance between caloric intake and expenditure, to best suit both your wants and needs and that is all there is to it, really.

Plan realistically and proceed slowly

You really don’t think you will lose all that weight in a day right. Good. At least you are in the right frame of mind with regards to dieting and stuff. Now we go on to the basics. Healthy weight loss is achieved by having a long term plan of how you are realistically going to achieve it. You must know what it is that you are willing to sacrifice towards that end and you also must know what is which is really needed for you to succeed. Know your limits, reflect that from what is needed, then make your diet plan according to what comes out.

Motivation is Key

You already understand what it takes to diet and you already have a plan, but what eventually makes all of it happen is that you have to really want it to happen. You might have all the knowledge and all the right equipment available but if you don’t have the motivation to do it, you will eventually fail. Every successful human in whatever field of endeavor has motivation as their common trait and you must have it too for you to succeed. Employing the help of other people gives your motivation a much needed boost as well as having the right goal in place, so that you will always be reminded of what it is that you are working hard for.

Dieting, same as with any other things in this world can easily be overcome if one just put their minds into it. The saying “it’s all in the mind” rings true here, that whatever your mind decides to conceive, the body will eventually achieve, one way or the other, sometimes even without you knowing it. Think it, that’s really all there is to it.

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Who We Are

We are a group of gals that loves to read and write. Our main mission is to encourage everyone to read and write. In this day and age, many kids are not reading or writing enough. They rather play video games or watch television. We want to change the world one word at a time. With your help, we can achieve this!